Background information

On 23 March 2022, the food charity organisation Food Bank (FB) launched an initiative in Lithuania, offering €115 worth FB cards to Ukrainian war refugees who are food insecure. Ukrainian citizens will be able to use these cards for buying food in a Lithuanian supermarkets. According to the organisers of the initiative, such support gives people more freedom, and everyone will be able to buy food according to their individual needs.

Content of measure

Food cards are given to people who arrived in Lithuania from Ukraine and registered with the Migration Department (MD) no earlier than 24 February 2022. To receive a food card, the person must have an ILTU code (which is a code for aliens with interests in Lithuania) issued by the Migration Department and fill out a form on the Food Bank webpage. After filling out the form, the Ukrainian war refugee receives a notification where and when he/she can collect the food card. Holders of the card can buy food in stores belonging to one of the retail chains in the municipality of residence. The cards are given to each person and the family receives as many cards as the number of persons registered in the system.

In addition to the food cards, the Food Bank also provides other support to Ukrainians by distributing food packages and sending food and other products donated by business entities to Ukraine.

Use of measure

According to the Food Bank, on 11 April 2022, a total of 30,000 food cards were distributed to Ukrainians. The Food Bank has already spent around €1.1 million on the purchase of the cards. These funds were donated by Lithuanian people. A further 17,000 cards are planned to be purchased with State funds.

In addition to the food cards, the Food Bank has already distributed more than 26,000 food packages to Ukrainians in Lithuania and sent 17 vans with water, food and pet food to Ukraine.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	Migrants or refugees

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Other social actors (e.g. NGOs)	Companies National funds Other

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Informed	Informed
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

No information available.

Views and reactions

No information available.

Sources

• 24 March 2022: Food cards for people who have fled the war (Nuo karo veiksmų pabėgusiems žmonėms – maisto kortelės) (socmin.lrv.lt)
• 11 April 2022: Food Bank distributes cards to Ukrainians: 12,000 people have already applied for them („Maisto bankas“ dalina korteles ukrainiečiams: norinčių jas gauti jau dvylika tūkstančių) (www.maistobankas.lt)